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nThe blond-haired heroine crossed her arms and declared with a serious expression,

nShe was sitting by a small desk in one of the rooms in the Victureo mansion and was talking to two other people who were there with her.

n”I think so too… when planning for the tournament, neither my father nor anyone else took into consideration that someone on the sage level would participate…. and if they did then I apologize for my family thinking that a group of water mages would be a sufficient precaution against that kind of magic…”

nThe crimson-haired girl sighed nodded and sighed with a bitter expression.

n”If for whatever reason I wasn’t there, or even if I didn’t react in time – then Zoemi would have a higher noble kill count than even the Ghosts of Bellcephora form three hundred years ago.”

nShe added making a concerned expression and looking away.

n”That is not what you said to the judges though…”

nBurushi pointed out furrowing her brows – she was concerned about the safety – but she did realize that the danger was so extreme.

n”I was lying of course. What, did you want Zoemi to get disqualified or even punished?”

nEhmi shrugged her shoulders and murmured defensively without making eye contact with the blond heroine.

n”I see… well – I did know something was up. When lady Arreta woke up in the sickbay, she had a panic attack the moment she saw shadows move, or anything remotely black to the point of… Nevermind. I knew about people having a reaction like that, but it was my first time seeing someone being traumatized to that degree.”

nBurushi breathed out and leaned into her chair, speaking her mind before stopping herself, and keeping some information about her patient confidential.

n”Or maybe my Zoemi should step back from the tournament? That would solve the problem.”

n”Eh?!”

n”What?!”

nThe third person spoke up – a dark-haired girl laying down on the bed – her comment made the other two gasp in disbelief.

n”Miri, come on! Why would you say that?! Even after I tried so hard to convince others to not disqualify him?!”

nEhmi straightened her back and turned to the dark-haired girl, utterly shocked by her stance on the subject.

n”And? You only think about this stupid tournament. You want my Zoemi to participate because you don’t want to get sold off to the winner – and I understand that sentiment. But you don’t consider Zoemi’s feelings right now.”

n”…!”

n”…?”

nMiriette shrugged her shoulders and casually scoffed, causing Ehmi to flinch and Burushi to tilt her head curiously.

n”His spell got out of control. He was always warning me and Horeo about being cautious with our most powerful spells because they could turn out to be extremely dangerous, and then exactly that happened to him! You both see what happened in that arena. Zoemi wanted to stop the spell but it didn’t listen at all and his only option was to blow it up, which only worked out in everyone’s favor because of your affinity with fire.”

nThe dark-haired girl continued the explanation in an unbothered voice, although her indifferent expression changed into a grumpy one as she motioned at the crimson-haired girl with her chin.

n”So? Where is the problem? If he has trouble with controlling his spells the best option is to practice hard in order to master them.”

nThe crimson-haired girl frowned and shook her head with a weirded-out expression.

n”Hmph.”

nMiriette did not respond to that and only scoffed rolling her eyes at the comment.

n”Ehmi… I don’t think that is the problem here. It’s not about the future but that one accident. Can’t Zoemi use attributes other than fire? What if his spell had the same destructive capacity but was a water spell instead? Or wind, light, or even lightning, like your father’s?”

nSince neither of them seemed to be willing to continue talking, Burushi took it upon her shoulders to bear the burden of carrying the conversation until things will clear out between them.

n”Weren’t you the one to say that without you there, Zoemi’s noble kill count would be higher than the one Ghosts of Bellcephora had amassed, or something?”

n”…ah…”

nThe blond-haired girl pointed out which made the crimson-haired girl gasp in realization.

n”Exactly. You even have the guts to suggest that fighting in the tournament is the right place to train. You sure got guts, I’ll give you that.”

nMiriette snorted and shook her head at the already dispirited Ehmi.

n”The best training is a training done in comba…”

n”Ah, so you are the type of person tho trains accuracy of your spells while your target is surrounded by helpless toddlers? To raise the stakes? Wow. For a moment you got me fooled into thinking that you are a responsible person, but here we are.”

nEhmi took a deep breath and was trying to back up her stance but Miriette scoffed in annoyance, glaring at the ceiling as she didn’t even want to look at the crimson-haired girl anymore – which left Ehmi speechless.

n”Seeing how bothered Zoemi was and still spouting so much bull**. Tsk. If that still was within my power, I would make him withdraw from this stupid tournament without hesitation.”

nTo add insult to injury, the dark-haired girl clicked her tongue and roled on the side, turning her back on the crimson-haired girl.

n”You think you are so smart?! You are just jealous that Zoemi is fighting in the tournament for my sake! You flat-chested inferiority complex!”

nHaving a hot temper wasn’t a requirement for a fire magician, but there was a certain correlation between that attribute and its wielders having a short fuse – which was clearly displayed by Ehmi’s outburst.

n…although in her case it might have more to do with some other circumstances aligning in a certain way…

n”!!!!”

nBurushi’s eyes widened and she moved back, even sliding her chair together with her, as she was preparing for the overwhelming response from the dark-haired villainess.

n”The only time I felt jealous about someone is when Burushi was openly hanging around Surou, but go off I guess.”

n”?!?!?!”

nAnd she was in for one of the biggest surprises of her life as Miriette simply shrugged her shoulders and responded without even glancing back.

nBut the thing was, Miriette was furious, but she was also spiteful enough not to show it at all since that would give the other person the satisfaction of getting to her.

n”Telling me that I have an inferiority complex, I swear. What was it called again – projecting your insecurities? No – in your case it probably is something even more stupid, like, for example, wanting other people to feel inferior to you, because of course, you are so superior. You know what? You are so superior that both your looks and power only ended up putting you in a position of a prize. Congratulations.”

nThat’s why when she actually talked back, it wasn’t just a warning shot but a straight-up war.

n”…!”

n”Ehmi…?!”

nAt first Ehmi’s face become pale, then she turned red from anger and she stood up – but she seemed to cool down at least a little bit when Burushi called out her name.

n”I thought you were better than that!”

nShe scoffed and walked to the door.

n”No. No, you did not.”

n”…!”

nMiriette snorted without even sparing her a single glance.

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